Elevate B2B Marketing News: LinkedIn Tops 900M Members, Microsoft’s Growing OpenAI Investment, & New Global Digital Trends Report

LinkedIn Now Up to 900 Million Members, Continues to See ‘Record Levels’ of Engagement
Microsoft’s latest quarterly performance report has revealed that its LinkedIn (client) professional social network has topped the 900 million member mark and seen record levels of engagement, with the number of user sessions expanding by 18 percent, accompanied by revenue that grew by 10 percent during the most recent quarter year-over-year, and a ten-fold increase in newsletter creation on the platform, Microsoft recently announced. Social Media Today

2023 Global Digital Report [Meltwater / We Are Social]
During 2022 some $27.51 billion was spent on online influencer activities, which was a 20.4 percent increase year-over-year, while influencer advertising represented 4.1 percent of total digital advertising spending during 2022, a rise of 4.6 percent year-over-year, with 71 percent of brands having said that they expect influencers to play a bigger role in 2023, according to newly-released data from Meltwater’s Digital 2023 Global Overview Report. Meltwater

Here’s what B2B is borrowing from B2C commerce
73 percent of B2B buyers have come to expect a B2C-type purchasing experience, as sales on B2B commerce websites climbed to over $1.6 trillion during 2021, an increase of 17 percent — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-published report data, and VentureBeat takes a look at the B2B-B2C crossover shifts taking place in 2023. VentureBeat

B2B Brands Urged To Use Email Signatures, Messaging [Study]
Email signatures saw click-through rates (CTR) from 0.5 percent to 0.8 percent, representing the top spot in newly-released study data, with LinkedIn ads also having recorded some of the top CTR performance, according to benchmark findings of interest to B2B marketers. MediaPost

Microsoft & OpenAI Extend Deal To Make AI Accessible To Everyone
The partnership that helped drive the popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot technology has been extended, with Microsoft leaning in to the partnership in the form of a multi-billion dollar investment over multiple years, OpenAI and Microsoft recently announced. Search Engine Journal

Account-Based Marketing Is On the Rise [Report]
66 percent of B2B marketers have said that their organization uses account-based marketing (ABM), and some 82 percent of those who don’t noted that they plan to start doing so over the next year — two of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published report data. ANA

The 99:1 rule: How to invest in a recession
Economic headwinds are causing B2B firms to adjust the traditional notion of 95 percent of customers being out-of-market, and shift economic demand even more to future buyers, and Marketing Week takes a look at how B2B brands are investing in advertising that is focused on driving future success. Marketing Week

[bctt tweet=”“Even in good times, only 5% of customers are ready to buy right now. 95% of customers are future buyers, who won’t need to purchase anything for months, years, or decades.” — Peter Weinberg of @B2BInstitute” username=”toprank”]

Which Digital Platforms Are Marketers Prioritizing for Investment This Year?
46 percent of marketing executives have said that they plan to increase investment on the LinkedIn social media platform during 2023, with Twitch, Google, YouTube, and TikTok also seeing expected increases, according to nearly-published survey data of interest to digital marketers. MarketingCharts

LinkedIn’s New Feature Can Help You Find Must-Read Newsletters
Greater LinkedIn newsletter visibility has begun rolling out with LinkedIn’s latest update, which highlights the newsletters that users subscribe to on the platform, as part of the firm’s efforts to expanded the audience for its growing newsletter functionality, LinkedIn recently announced. Search Engine Journal

Where is Technology Proving Most Valuable in Account-Based Marketing?
54 percent of U.S. B2B marketers at organizations with over $50 million in annual revenue have said that technology is very important in account-level advertising campaigns, especially when it comes to measurement and execution, with activation also a top area related to wielding tech in B2B ABM, according to newly-published survey data. MarketingCharts

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at “More with Less” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

What To Know About ChatGPT — The Onion

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Debbie Friez — This Week in Marketing: Revenue Is a Team Sport — LinkedIn (client)
• TopRank Marketing — Selecting the Right Digital Influencer in B2B Markets: Guidelines for Managers — European Business Review

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW:

Ann Handley @MarketingProfs
Michael J. Barber @michaeljbarber
Melanie Deziel @mdeziel
Andy Crestodina @crestodina
Margaret Molloy @MargaretMolloy

Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry.

Have you found your own favorite B2B marketing news item for the week that we haven’t yet mentioned? If so, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line in the comments below.

Thanks for joining us this week for the Elevate B2B Marketing News, and we hope you’ll return again next Friday for another run-down of the most up-to-date and relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page, or at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

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